View From the Bridge

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ABSTRACT: LETTER FROM CHINA about the scene on the riverfront border between China and North Korea… Writer tells about surprising a thief, probably a North Korean, in his room, and how he fought with him. . . Apart from the North Korean swimmers, the main tourist attraction in town was the Yalu River Broken Bridge, which had once connected Dandong and Sinuiju. In November, 1950, during the first year of the Korean War, American bombers destroyed most of the bridge when General MacArthur’s troops made their push toward China’s border. In Chinese, the war is known as “the war of resistance against America and in support of Korea.” It is estimated that a million Chinese died in the fighting. . .. Today, the Chinese half of the Yalu River bridge is still standing. Tourists can walk to the end of it, look at the bombed-out wreckage, and pay one yuan to stare through a telescope at the North Koreans. . .. Writer mentions reports of famine in the country. . . The Gateway to the Country Hunting Park was one of the recreational options available to Dandong’s tourists, a place where they could hunt “wild” quail, pigeons, pheasants, and rabbits. The birds were tethered to the ground, and, for one yuan, tourists could shoot at them with either a .22-calibre rifle or a bow and arrow. For three yuan, they could take a potshot at a rabbit that was also tied to the ground. . . When it rained, I sat in my hotel room eating cookies and watching North Korean television. North Korean television had everything that fascinated me about Chinese television, but more of it. There were more military variety shows, more patriotic bands, more heroic leaders. The songs were more cloying. The smiles were bigger. The uniforms were more uniform. There were more programs of singing and dancing children wearing heavy makeup. . . On my last afternoon in Dandong, the river was full of Chinese wedding boats. …All of them followed the same route—a scoot out to the ruined bridge; a pause for photographs; a slow cruise along the banks of North Korea. . .. Writer describes the wizened mien of a North Korean child beggar. . .